POP GOES THE NCAA'S FOR CINCINNATI

March 4, 2009

This one is going to hurt Mick Cronin and his Cincinnati squad as the Bubble Bursts for the Bearcats (Cincinnati Enquirer) in an inexcuseable 70-59 loss at South Florida Tuesday night.

USF rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to outscore UC 46-30 in the second half. This offensive explosion came from a Bulls squad that looked gassed in Sunday's home loss to West Virginia. In that game South Florida managed just 50 points in the full game, only four points more than their second half output in a game the Bearcats HAD to have.

Dominique Jones led the Bulls with 30 points as USF used a 17-2 run over seven minutes to turn a 50-46 deficit into a 63-52 lead with just 1:08 left in the game. Jones also added a team-high 8 rebounds and dished out 5 assists in a dominating performance. Augustus Gilchrist added 13 and point guard Chris Howard was credited with 10 assists without committing a single turnover in the game.


The loss was a devastating blow to the Bearcats who now could be faced with having to win the 2009 Big East Tournament next week in Madison Square Garden for any chance at making the NCAA Tournament. Their blowout loss at Syracuse on Sunday and the loss to USF puts them at 8-9 in the Big East with Seton Hall coming to Fifth Third Arena to close out the regular season this weekend.

UC was without starting forward Mike Williams again. They did manage to eat West Virginia with their 6'7 forward, who is out with a sprained knee. However, USF has plenty of their own injury issues (no Jesus Verdejo), and the Bearcats simply failed to get it done.

Yancy Gates had a team-high 14 points. Like the Syracuse loss, UC struggled shooting the ball, connecting on just 37% of their shots from the field and were 7-32 from beyond the three-point arc as they look to have shot away the chance at the NCAA Tournament.